


Apartment 4A

by protectnevillelongbottom



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M, Moving Out, New Neighbors, Nightmares, broken!Sirius
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-03 12:37:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6610933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/protectnevillelongbottom/pseuds/protectnevillelongbottom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Due to James and Lily's rapidly developing relationship, Sirius moved out. Turns out that he's not very good neighbor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Okay, on three. One. Two. Three,” Sirius said aloud, and he gritted his teeth against the extra weight on his knees and the uncomfortable stretch in his shoulders. With the help of his best mate James, he maneuvered the sofa in line with the stairs and started backing his way up. 

After they reached the first landing, they set the sofa on the ground so they could catch their breath. 

“Did you have to choose the fourth floor?” James complained, sounding suspiciously out of breath.

Sirius pulled the couch in the direction of the next flight of stairs and laughed. “Yes, I did that just to spite you, James. I also made you help me move in.”

“You also stole my couch,” James retorted, following his friend.

“You’re the one who’s kicked me out of his apartment. I paid rent. This sofa was mutually funded, and I deserved to get something if I was to be removed from the vicinity. I chose the couch. And that ghastly lamp. Honestly, it's terrible and you should be happy I took it off your hands,” Sirius trailed off as they both bent down to pick up each end of the sofa. “Reparations,” he continued, “a settlement. Alimony, if you will.”

James’ head was only visible enough for Sirius to see his rolling eyes. “We weren’t married, and I am not paying your rent.”

“Ah, so you’ll be here to help me move this couch back down these stairs when I get evicted?” Sirius joked and then promptly tripped, landing on his backside on the second landing with a resounding ‘oof’. 

“You’d better wait until the summer. It’s bloody freezing out here. Who’s idea was outdoor stairs? Preposterous,” James muttered, swinging his arms in circles to help relieve some of the pain in his shoulders. “Tell me, why couldn’t we levitate your furniture?

Sirius stood back up and wiped his trousers off. “Muggle neighborhood. One more? The mattress and frame are all that’s left in the truck, and they aren’t quite as heavy.”

At James’ nod, they both took up their positions by the sofa. With a great heave, the weight of the sofa was distributed between them and Sirius started moving up the next flight of stairs. 

“And anyway, this couch and I share a special bond. I’ve eaten curry on it. Slept on it. Had sex on it,” Sirius tried to mumble the last part, but it came out as loud as, if not a bit breathier than, usual.

“So have I,” James wheezed out.

A beat passed. “Gross.”

A short, unfamiliar laugh rang out and Sirius twisted his neck in the direction of the sound. Playful grey eyes met amused amber and Sirius let out a small, almost inaudible gasp, whether from shock or exertion, he wasn’t quite sure. The man was casually leaning against the banister, hands curled around a mug of steaming something. His pajama bottoms hung low on his hips and the thin grey cotton shirt was wrinkled from sleep. Sirius’ eyebrows jerked up in surprise and he promptly lost his grip on the sofa. 

“Padfoot,” James mumbled, leaning against the sliding sofa. He pressed his shoulder to the side and pushed, grunting. “Sirius? Padfoot, come on… I can’t hold…” He craned his neck to see over the sofa and saw Sirius mesmerized by a man on the next landing. Sighing, he quickly backed up and let the sofa slide back to the previous landing. He settled onto it for a rest.

“I think you almost killed your friend,” the man said in an easy voice, clearly entertained.

“He’s fine,” Sirius said quickly, without even a glance back at James to check that he was, actually, fine and not a squashed heap under the weight of the sofa. “I’m sorry. My name is Sirius.” He held out a hand, which the man took gingerly.

“Remus,” the man replied. “I live in 4B.”

“I’ll be in 4A, once James gets his lazy arse up and helps me move all my stuff in,” Sirius retorted. Peering up the stairs with a exasperated look, James pushed himself to his feet, mumbling.

Sirius watched in fascination as Remus took a long gulp from his mug, throat working around the swallow. He cleared his throat after and looked down the stairs. “Well, hop to it, Jamie. I’m quite ready to have a neighbor that doesn’t have twelve cats or take pride in a collection of heavy metal music and industrial stereos.” 

He fixed Sirius with a quick smile and retreated back into his apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

Sirius spent the next two days glued to his front door, staring through the peephole for any sign of life from the apartment across from his. The guy—Remus—hadn’t even checked his mail as far as Sirius knew. He just wanted another glimpse of those eyes, one tiny peek.

Of course, realistically, Sirius knew he couldn’t just hover behind the door and wait for Remus to leave. That was an utterly ridiculous thing to do.

Sometimes he watched through the kitchen window, too.

He knew he was being a creep, but he couldn’t get Remus out of his mind. The curls sticking up at odd ends, the blazing eyes that reached inside him and warmed his soul, the throat. Sirius wanted his mouth on that throat, wanted to suck on the Adam’s apple, wanted to graze his teeth along the pulse point. He shivered and pushed that far out of his mind. He had to admit to himself that he was acting a bit deranged, staring at strangers for days at a time. 

He also had to confess that his life was rather boring without James there to entertain him. But James just had to kick him out and invite Lily to move in with him. Of course. Gone were the days when they would stay up late, eating pizza until their stomachs were about to burst, singing along to old Beatles albums, playing Wizarding Chess until the wee hours of the morning. James was in a committed relationship now. Engaged to be married to a fiery redhead with a radiant smile. Sirius had enjoyed her company almost immediately, if not for her kindness, then her quick wit. 

Turning away from the kitchen window for the first time in almost forty minutes, Sirius clapped his hands in boredom. He patted a random rhythm into the door of his refrigerator as he peered into it for several minutes. He tapped a pen against a notepad, half-formed grocery list covered in little ink dots by the time he’d moved on. He inwardly wished he had longer nails so he could rap them against the granite countertop, like he was waiting impatiently for something he wasn’t actually expecting at all.

The clock read 2:26 AM.

He’d unpacked a few boxes already, starting with the kitchen supplies. His refrigerator and pantry were too empty for his comfort, but he could survive another day without food. Without sleep, however, he wasn’t sure. 

It’d been hard to sleep peacefully for months now. He tried everything various Healers and Medi-witches suggested to no avail, and his resolve was wearing thin. James was usually so energetic that by the end of the day, Sirius was too exhausted to even move from the couch. Now, however, there was nothing to tire him out. The only time he’d managed to get some decent sleep was when he’d had company in bed. Something about a warm weight next to him kept his nightmares in check and relaxed him completely. But Sirius wasn’t about to have a one night stand every night. He needed something consistent for his health and his sanity.

The books were next to be unpacked. At first, he’d just shoved them on whatever shelves they would fit on in his rush to get back to the peephole. It was daytime, anyway, the most likely time he’d be able to see Remus. Now, though, he had time to really organize them. He put them in alphabetical order by title, then quickly changed his mind and reorganized by author’s last name.

The boredom was really starting to mess with his head.

He managed to get three more boxes unpacked before he collapsed on the familiar couch, burying his face between the cushions and sighing. He missed James.

\---

Sirius woke up in a cold sweat, images of his brother bloodied and battered at the forefront of his mind. He could swear that he could still smell the metallic scent. His shaking hand wiped over his grey face as he tried to calm down, taking slow, deep breaths. By the time he made it to the bathroom, his knees couldn’t hold him anymore and he collapsed by the toilet. He retched a few times before anything came up, and even then he was too weak to make it into the toilet. 

He reached out a hand, silently Summoning his wand and the telephone. His fingers automatically dialed the proper number and he rested his head against the cool porcelain of the bathtub while it rang.

“Hello?” a female voice answered.

Sirius tried to speak, but found his throat too clogged up. He cleared the phlegm away and croaked out, “Lily, is James…?”

“Sirius? Hold on,” she replied, concern lacing her voice. There was rustling on the other end, a muted conversation, and then even louder movements.

“Padfoot?” James asked, “What’s up, mate?” He sounded as if he’d just woken up, which made Sirius feel even worse for calling.

Sirius held his free hand out in front of him, watching it tremble. “It’s Regulus,” he finally whispered, curling his fingers into a fist and jamming it between his thighs, hoping the shaking would stop.

“Okay, I’ll be there in five minutes,” his best friend affirmed. 

He wasn’t sure how long he waited. Flashes of red light and bloodstained floorboards clouded his head. He pressed his palms to his ears, hoping to stop the triumphant, high-pitched yells and screams of agony. He let out a sob.

Sirius jerked when arms wrapped around him, hoisting him up to sit on the toilet. He could hear James’ muffled voice. “Padfoot?” Fingers tried to pry away Sirius’ hands from his ears. He sucked in a shaky breath and dropped his arms, letting his head fall into James’ chest as he cried.

He wasn’t certain whether it was the new isolation or the fact that he hadn’t truly reacted to his brother’s death that seemed to make the situation worse, but he was sure that there wasn’t a single time that he could remember crying these deep, gut-wrenching sobs. His hands curled into James’ shirt and held on tight until the material he was gripping turned soaking wet.

After what felt like hours, he pulled away and was met with a steaming mug of hot chocolate in front of his face.

“Drink,” Lily ordered.

Sirius obliged, handling the mug with care in his shaky hands. When he finished, he set it on the vanity and looked up at Lily with red-rimmed, aching eyes. He could tell she was trying to hold back tears and he promptly grabbed her hand, giving it a hard squeeze.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, stepping forward and cradling his head against her stomach. He took a deep, shuddering breath and wrapped his arms around her middle, appreciating the comfort. 

\--

“How long?”

“Lils, I promise, they’d stopped.”

“How long?”

A soft sigh. “Since before the war ended.”

“James Potter!”

“They had stopped before he moved out!”

“Are you sure?”

“Well, I hadn’t woken up to his screaming in over two months, so I’d say they at least calmed down.”

A pause. The a faint wooshing sound and a smack.

“Ow! Lily!”

“Only two months?!” Lily whispered furiously, “James, he had them for over three years and you figured they’d stopped after not hearing them for two months? Half that time, you weren’t even home! You were with me!”

“I figured he was well enough to live on his own! And you wanted to move in!”

“Not if I was kicking out an emotionally unstable veteran! James, he—,“ Lily stopped, dropping her voice into a quieter whisper. “He lost his brother.”

Another sigh. “I know.”

“Maybe we should bring him back in with us.”


End file.
